I know this is a bad quality pic but its all I could get today..Bad lighting and I took it with my cell phone... But
Does anyone see anything wrong with this (aside from the awful trim job the last guy did)? We're hoping to have a new farrier come out Monday or Tuesday (hopefully!) and take a look. This is the foot that the last farrier said just 'had surface cracks and were nothing to worry about' but now he's developed a limp when circled left in a trot/canter

could be the trim itself...i'm definitely not an expert, so i have no clue

NorthernMama

10-27-2008 01:55 PM

Really can't see much with that photo... definitely a trim is in order, but other than that I just can't see well enough.

amigo82

10-27-2008 06:37 PM

He definitely needs another trim and from a DIFFERENT farrier. I wasn't there when the last guy came so I didn't see it get done. But he barely rounded off the edges at all, and his feet look terrible now, and started looking bad just a couple weeks after his trim. We used the farrier that the place my father's gf got her horse from uses. And our neighbor recommended someone else but he is apparently in the military and is stationed in West Virigina now (I'm in MA) and will only be coming home for a little while before going overseas.
Seems hard to find any decent farriers around here that are good with barefoot horses.
ANYWAYS! I'll try and get some better pictures and see what you guys think.

Thanks!!

amigo82

10-29-2008 08:38 PM

OK I took some somewhat better pics tonight.. It was hard though because he Would Not keep his foot up for me. He'd come close to falling just so I'd put it down, but he'd let me grab his other feet. He barely let me pick/clean it out thats why its still so messy. Anyways, here are the pics

Wow. Not a happy place. OK, the obvious is -- keep looking for another farrier. Unless this horse grows super hooves, no he should not look like this after only 5 weeks.

Keep in mind, I'm not a pro. I've been trimming my own horses' hooves for years now and rehabed two (one quite bad). With that provisio, here's what I see: Too long, too much bar, heels are forward and uneven, hoof has self-trimmed now in a couple of places and the toe is quite square probably putting even more pressure on that crack. And I too would want someone to look at that crack -- asap!

In the 2nd photo, it doesn't look like the right hoof is as bad - or is it? Are all of his hooves in that kind of shape?

I wish you luck in your search for help. If you can't find a barefoot trimmer, hopefully you can just find another farrier. Some are quite open to barefoot and regardless, it will be more support than what you seem to have now.

kitten_Val

10-30-2008 07:36 AM

It's just a big crack. My horses had the same this summer after the farrier did a horrible job two times in row. He left toe to be too long and having the hard ground in July-Aug they broke the toe and sides in very big chunks. They didn't go lame, but my qh was tripping all the time badly. :evil: So... I changed the guy.

barefoothooves

10-30-2008 01:30 PM

The crack that goes up looks like it's just a surface fissure as it gets higher. The toe has been trimmed or worn off kinda square so it makes the toe more prone to crack and could get worse if you don't get the trim soon. It looks like he has under run heels on both feet (could see the black hoof in the background), weak heel bulbs and thin sole at the toe, along with a puny frog.
I hope you find a trimmer soon, and they trim the foot in more natural, oval/round shape at the toe, with a nice bevel to stop that crack. And that they help get the heels trimmed back where they should be without lowering them excessively so those heel bulbs can start to be used and build up some.Trimming the flare off at the toe will correct the breakover and encourage more growth of sole at the toe.
The lameness, he may have a bruise and it could even be an abscess, just spouting off possiblities from the situation and the pics.

amigo82

10-30-2008 09:03 PM

thank you guys so much for your responses. I love this forum:D everyone is so helpful!!
I think we have found a potential farrier, and he might even be able to come over as soon as tomorrow (hope hope hope) If not then maybe next week. My father's girlfriend (who has NO experience with horses.. and was the only one present the last time the horses got their feet done and didn't know any better to ask the guy why he barely clipped them and didn't round off their feet AT ALL..:evil:) apparently spent 2hours watching someone do about 8 or 9 horses today at a local farm that takes in rescue horses. She said they were all barefoot too. I would have liked to have gone myself, obviously, but I couldn't get the time off work and she happens to have this whole week off. ANYWAYS.. she claims that after talking to and watching this farrier for two hours she realizes that the last guy didn't do it right (duh?) and that this person will be much better and has been doing the feet of the horses at this farm for about 15years with no complaints.
Bottom line, I just want someone to come take a look at my boy!

barefoothooves -- I was worried about it possibly being an abscess, but I don't know that much about them to really take a guess. I'm hoping its just a bruise and something he can recover from quickly/easily. Or maybe its just the terrible trim job itself causing him to limp?

kitten_val -- Amigo trips alot too, and I originally thought it was just because he was clumsy haha but now i think he just can't walk because of his awful feet! Poor guy:???:

northernmama -- not all of his feet are this bad.. but they aren't that great either. I had him on some hoof supplements back when I first got him. He had been shod before and had just lost his last shoe when he arrived, and I thought maybe supplements would help his feet out. He just finished off the last of that a couple weeks ago. Hopefully this new farrier will be able to help us out.. and find the real reason behind his slight limp and ease my fears about that crack